A Durmstrang Angel
by Vidina and Kimi
Summary: There aren't many girls at Durmstrang Institution, and even less now that Angela left and transferred to Hogwarts. Little did she know someone else transferred from Durmstrang as well. Will he bring up the memories she so desperately tries to bury?
1. Chapter 1: The Yellow Rose

**Chapter 1:**

_Crap. __Crap. CRAP! __He saw me! _Angela Crenshaw hid behind her book in Transfiguration and tried to calm her fluttering heart. She could feel her forehead perspiring and felt the piercing eyes on the back of her head from a boy she once knew from her past. And that's exactly where she'd like to keep it. In the past.

Professor McGonnagall began teaching the lesson, but Angela hardly noticed the faint words that did not process any meaning in her mind. She was solely focused on the stares she felt from the boy sitting behind her.

_He was supposed to still be at Durmstrang! _Angela quietly argued with herself against the possibilities that he could be here, of all places, attending _her_ class! _He has some nerve showing up here uninvited like this! Why is he even here? He couldn't be spying on the headmaster..? But wait, that doesn't make sense. Maybe I just saw wrong. _She started to calm herself a little with this complacent thought. It really did make no sense that Noir Solace, the prince of Durmstrang, suddenly decided to show up at Hogwarts and take a few classes. That was ludicrous!

Angela couldn't take it anymore. She had to confirm or deny her suspicions. She tentatively turned her head to the left praying that she was wrong. What she saw was a pair of silver-blue eyes staring intently back at her. It was as if she could instantly tell his eyes had never left her the moment they walked into this classroom, which now seemed to be getting stuffier at the moment.

The sight made her gasp, even though she had already known that her eyes had not deceived her previously. Noir Solace was in her class, and he was staring at her. Her heart began to pick up once more until it felt like it was in her throat. She couldn't breathe, and didn't dare to look away. It was as if the moment they locked eyes he pulled her into some sort of trance she couldn't escape. This wasn't a reaction toward him physically, although he was devilishly handsome. He had short blonde hair and a pair of screaming silver-blue eyes. A hair was never out of place when it came to Noir Solace. He was cool and collected. He was a high-class, respected gentleman. He came from one of the highest caliber of Wizard family, a big name to live up to, but he didn't seem to mind.

But no, it wasn't his looks or his status that had Angela's heart beating like a hummingbird trapped in her chest, it was _fear. _Fear of what he might do or say to ruin any future for her that she might possibly have here at Hogwarts. Being a figure from her past, he was someone who knew much more of her than anyone at Hogwarts did, even her best friend Jason didn't know about her past. When she first started attending Hogwarts she had made the decision she would reinvent Angela Crenshaw. So far, she had been successful and no one at Hogwarts knew who she used to be, who she hated to be. Until now.

The trance was broken when Noir broke the gaze to look up at Professor McGonnagall. Angela felt like she was breathing for the first time, in short quick breaths. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears as her mind concocted all kinds of theories and explanations of why this was happening.

"Miss Crenshaw!" came Professor McGonnagall's shrill voice. Angela jerked her head up quickly, almost giving herself whiplash, and saw the teacher's stern face looking down upon her in disappointment.

"Y-Yes?" Her voice shook a little as she quickly answered her professor.

"Perhaps you would be so kind as to inform the class of what incantation is used to return something that has been transfigured to its original state?" The professor looked ominous at Angela who simply flushed. She knew the whole class had now stopped what they were doing and was staring at her.

"No professor," Angela muttered barely intelligible to those around her. She could hear the snickering of the Slytherins who were sitting at the table with Noir. One of the boys even nudged Noir in the ribs and nodded toward Angela. However, Noir himself had an unreadable expression on his face which made Angela even more on edge.

A hand shot up in the table in front of her. McGonnagall nodded toward the girl and she promptly said "The spell to return transfigured objects into their original state is 'Exemplar.**'"**

"Very good Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor." McGonagall started walking towards the front of the class as she weaved gracefully between the student's desks. "This is a N.E.W.T. level class. Those unwilling to put in the work will fall behind, and I hope that you all remember that and do your best in the course." Although the professor addressed the entire class, everyone knew when her eyes paused momentarily on Angela that the message was singled out for one person. Angela sunk down in her chair, suddenly feeling very hot and embarrassed.

Transfiguration dragged on so that it felt like the slowest class of Angela's life. She tried to re-establish her rapport with Professor McGonnagall by making sure she paid attention and participated in discussion. However, it was so hard to focus when she knew just one row back that _that boy_ was staring at her again. How could she _NOT_ feel the penetrating gaze of those eyes?

Angela's items were already packed up by the time McGonagall dismissed the class and she darted for the door as soon as she could. Angela was the first one out the door, but Noir closely followed.

"Miss Crenshaw" he called out. His voice was casual but carried an air of importance to it that made her hesitate momentarily, but then start up the pace again. She didn't want to deal with this here. He walked past her and leaned against a wall with his shoulder, blocking her path. "Well it is so wonderful to see a friendly face at a new school."

Her face wasn't exactly friendly at the moment. He had taken her breath away again with those screaming silver-blue eyes that stopped her in her tracks. "Hello Noir." Only then did she realize how nervous she sounded. She started to feel self-conscious, knowing that all the students filing out of the class were glancing at her with the new kid looking like they've known each other for years. Little did the other students know, the two actually _HAD_ known each other for years. They were both in their 6th year, and both transfer students from Durmstrang, although Angela was determined to keep that part of her life behind her and she wasn't about to let some _boy_ mess that up.

Noir smiled a crooked smile that Angela had grown accustomed to over the years. It meant he was amused. Angela wanted nothing more than to smack that smile off his face, but fought against the urge seeing as they had all of their classmates filing past them. "I expected a proper greeting when I came to Hogwarts. Aren't you the least surprised to see me?" _What was he doing? Teasing me?_

"Surprised might be an understatement." Some Slytherins, including Malfoy and his gang slowed down as they left the classroom to eavesdrop. They were also probably asking themselves why a Slytherin such as Noir was conversing with a pretty, yet somewhat mundane Hufflepuff. Those two houses did not often make the best of friends in history's past. "Want to go for a walk?" Angela asked quickly well aware of the lingering Slytherin boys. Besides, the hallway was not the best place to have a conversation with Noir, especially since she was so afraid of what he might bring up.

"Lead the way," Noir obliged and followed Angela out the hallway and toward the entrance of the castle. They heard some jeers behind them from some of the boys she didn't know that sounded something like "Go get her Solace!" Angela tried to shake that comment from her memory so she could focus on what she needed to say from Noir. What _was_ she going to say to Noir? What do you say to someone who knows things about you that you'd rather just forget and put behind you? And how much could she actually trust him and expect him to keep those details to himself? Noir was sorted into Slytherin after all which, in her experience, hasn't been the most trustworthy house. These thoughts flooded her mind while they walked in silence until they reached the warm rays of the sun outside.

Noir was watching Angela's face contort with concentration as these thoughts passed through her mind. It amused him slightly and the right side of his mouth curved up into a smile as he watched. "You haven't changed a bit," he stated in a matter of fact way.

"Yes I have!" Angela said offensively. She automatically stopped walking and turned on Noir. If she had any height on him it might have looked like a threatening pose. "Listen Solace, just because we went to the same school together doesn't mean we have to be all buddy-buddy here."

Noir held his hands up in surrender to stop the verbal attack Angela spat at him. "Of course not," he said politely. "I was merely thinking that our past together might have given me a reason to want to catch up." _Our PAST! _It's true…Angela did go to one of the balls Durmstrang held with Noir, but she got asked to a lot of balls. He was simply another one of those guys in a very long line. There was nothing significantly special about their time together. "I was simply wondering…." Noir started, "Well it doesn't matter I suppose."

"What is it?" Angela asked, surprising herself for taking the bait. _Just as he wanted, _she thought with a hint of bitterness.

Noir seemed to enjoy that too because he was smiling again. "I was just wondering that maybe things at Hogwarts could be different for us?"

"That's what I'm hoping for," Angela murmured looking at the ground. And then her face flushed when she realized what he actually meant and what she said had completely different meanings. "Uh- that came wrong."

"So…you don't want things to be different between us?" he ventured.

"No! Um…." She started pacing back and forth while Noir took a seat on one of the concrete benches in the garden they had ended up in. Noir raised an eyebrow as she tried to find words to explain herself. He seemed slightly amused by the sight, but kept most of that amusement hidden from Angela knowing it would only irritate her. "What I meant was….I'm not the same person I was at Durmstrang. So things ARE different for me here, and I kind of like it that way. It's a new school and a fresh start. No one is judging me or associating me with things that have happened in the past…" She stopped pacing at that moment and turned to look at him. "You know, those things they said about me at Durmstrang, they weren't true." Her voice was soft now, remembering the hurt she had felt from the judgment of others. The judgment from him. "I suppose you get silly rumors like that anywhere though," she said starting to pick up her voice again in a matter of fact way. "But the point is...you're the only person here who knows anything of the sort. I don't want _that_ to be an issue here."

"So let me get this straight," Noir said after she had finished her speech. "You're afraid that my presence here will bring back your reputation from Durmstrang?"

"It better not," Angela said.

"I always knew you were a little bit feisty," he said with a hint of amusement. "Have you no faith in me at all?" The silence was his answer. There was too much doubt and fear there from previous hurt that he knew about too well. He could read it in her face by the way she bit her lip and looked away. "Fair enough. All joking aside…" He picked out a yellow rose from the garden and stood in front of her. From his position, he was slightly looking down on her. He took her hand and wrapped it around the rose, keeping his hand on top. "This is my promise to you, Angela Crenshaw. Your secret is safe with me. Take this rose as a symbol of our friendship. That is my wish anyway, that we can form a friendship. Let's get to know each other more. As individuals, rather than from the assumptions we made about each other at Durmstrang. I know you must have some false pretenses about me as well. So what do you say? How about dinner by the lake this Saturday? As friends of course."

Angela stood there in shock. Shocked at his close proximity to her, shocked at his hand over hers, shocked at his apparent sincere kindness to her, and shocked that she was actually nodding her head yes. Noir didn't seem to mind though. He took the yes without hesitation and smiled his crooked grin once again. "Good, I'm glad we'll have time to sit down and actually catch up. You might want to hurry back now. I think our lunch period is almost over."

As if on cue, her stomach growled. "Oh right…lunch." In the midst of all of this needless worry she had forgotten to eat lunch. She shook her head to clear it of the fuzzy thoughts that clouded her memory. _What just happened! _It wasn't exactly how she planned on talking to him. She didn't have the satisfaction she was looking for. But at least he had promised that he wouldn't bring up Durmstrang, and that's what she wanted, right?

"I'll walk you back." Noir promptly let go of her hand which now held the yellow flower and picked up his books he had laid on the bench. They walked back mostly in silence. Angela kept stealing glances at Noir, who looked perfectly content. She couldn't help but be suspicious of his intentions. She had no reason to doubt that he was telling the truth and being sincere, but things like that just don't happen that easily. At least she'll have the rest of the week to think of more things to say to him on Saturday.

As they entered the great hall to eat something quickly before their next class, he stopped her by grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on the back of her hand like a true gentleman. "It was so good seeing you again Miss Crenshaw. Until next time." With that, he turned and sat down with the Slytherins, who.

Angela turned right away, her face a funny shade of red as she practically ran to the Hufflepuff table. _I can't believe he did that in front of everyone._ She took a deep breath to try and think logically._ In retrospect, it really wasn't a big deal,_ she tried to reason with herself._ It was just a simple kiss on the hand, nothing to make a fuss over._

But apparently it was, because as soon as she sat down at the table she kept hearing whispers and getting looks from across the hall. Suddenly, she felt someone slide into the seat next to her. She looked up to see the familiar face of her best friend in her house, Jason Baker. He had short dark hair with a boyish face. But his face was contorted with concern.

"You all right?" He asked putting his hand on her shoulder.

Angela laughed out loud. It was a forced kind of laugh that sounded strange even to her. "Yeah yeah, I'm fine," she said trying to regain her composure.

Jason's eyes went from the flower in her hand to the back of Noir's head across the room. "How do you know him? Is he a Slytherin?"

"Yeah," Angela replied after taking a bite of her toast and shrugging her shoulders. "Old friend."

"Just a friend?" Jason raised his eyebrows and touched Angela's check which was still flaming red with the back of his hand.

"Yes!" Angela pushed his hand away and laughed more comfortably. Jason was her best friend, of course he could tell something more was going on there…or had gone on there. It was clear the subject was closed for discussion…for now. Angela couldn't hide things from Jason for very long. She only hoped that he didn't ask too many probing questions.

"You're not getting off that easily," he said taking a bite of his apple and leaning with his back against the table so he could have a good look at the man she came in the doors with. "You're going to have to tell me the whoooole story later, you know that right?"

"Yeah well my schedule is pretty busy," she said changing the subject. "You know I have Herbology, then double potions, then dinner, then Quidditch practice, then homework and I'll probably be so exhausted and go to bed early."

"Funnily enough I'm with you in almost all of those activities," Jason pointed out happily. "You can't avoid the topic forever Ange!"

"I know," she said getting up from the dinner table and motioning for him to follow. "I promise you later." That was all he needed. He gave her a half-smug smile as he draped his arm around her shoulder. She nudged him, but his arm stayed put as they both left the great hall together and headed outside. This felt strangely familiar…

A/N: If you like the story, please review! All comments are read and very much appreciated! =D More to come soon!


	2. Chapter 2: Her Story

**Chapter 2: Her story**

That night after Quidditch practice, Angela stayed after in the locker rooms a little longer than usual. Being the only girl on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team definitely had its advantages because she was finally able to get some time to herself just to think. And there was certainly a plethora of things running through her mind. Most of them had to do with the sudden appearance of a boy from Durmstrang. _Noir Solace._

Her best friend Jason had been bugging her about it all day and she had promised to talk once they got back to the common room, but she wasn't in any hurry. She turned off the hot shower, and the steam still lingered in the room fogging up the mirrors. She absentmindedly drew on the mirror with her finger several shapes that related to Quidditch and the insignia of Durmstrang, where she spent the first five years of her wizarding education. She stared at it for a second before erasing it with the palm of her hand and sighed.

Grabbing her hair, she pulled it back into a pony-tail and got dressed quickly. She knew that Jason and Justin would be waiting for her outside as per norm. She laughed to herself as she thought about Jason's antics today. He had a million unanswered questions and she could tell it was driving him crazy. He dropped subtle hints about the topic, but Angela never took the bait. She was stubborn and a little peeved about the fact that a boy had distracted her in Transfigurations and was determined not to fail the rest of her classes.

"Well look who decided to join us Finch-Fletchley? Her highness, Miss Angela." Jason made a mock-bow and nudged Justin in the ribs when he didn't follow suit. In response, Justin knocked him in the knees which made Jason tumble to the ground.

Angela laughed freely with them. "And what are you two? The royal jesters?"

"No, he may be the fool, but I am King!" exclaimed Justin, linking his arm through Angela's and starting a dramaturgy walk back to the castle.

"You guys are married now?" Jason asked bobbing along beside them and taking Angela's other arm.

"Oh no!" Justin replied shaking his head. "Ange is merely the princess and I her father! All suitors must come through me! And let me just tell you, little one, that no one has been or ever will be good enough for you." With that Justin patted Angela on her head as she laughed.

When Justin and Jason got together, they were just two big goofballs. _Her _goofballs. She loved how easy their friendship was. Their time together almost always consisted of teasing and laughing. And that's what Angela loved best about it. She could momentarily be silly and crazy and not care about what others think of it because at the end of the day, these two goofballs were her friends and would always be there for her. These friendships simply reinforced her decision to transfer to Hogwarts. She was much happier for it.

True, she was closer to Jason, but that was mainly because Justin recently got together with a girl from Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst, and therefore wasn't spending most of his time in the Hufflepuff common room anymore. Plus, Angela had the strangest feeling that she wasn't well-liked by Mandy. Not that it bothered her much, but it could potentially be a problem for Justin if his girlfriend didn't like his friends.

"_There_ you are!" a high pitched voice squealed as we neared the castle doors. _Speak of the devil_. As Angela slipped out of Justin's locked arm, a girl with short black hair threw herself at Justin. They kissed hello as he twirled the petite girl around a couple times._ Young love._ Regardless of how sickening it was to watch two people in love when you are far from it yourself, it made Angela smile nonetheless at their giddiness.

"Well, I guess it's time to take our leave, highness. Bye guys! Have him back by curfew Mandy." Jason winked at them and then started walking away from the happy couple, arm still linked with Angela's. However, they weren't heading back to the castle anymore, which surprised Angela.

"So where are you taking me now?" Angela wondered out loud. "A little race around the lake? You didn't get enough exercise at practice today?"

Jason smiled down at her. "No, I wouldn't want to hurt your ego by beating you so bad." Angela smacked him lightly in a joking sort of way. "I just figured you'd like to talk somewhere other than the common room about your _boyfriend._"

Angela sighed. She knew exactly what he wanted to know. "Oh right."

"So you don't deny it?" Jason prodded.

"No! I mean, yes I do deny it!" Angela shook her head at her confusing words. They walked all the way to the edge of the lake and found a big rock to sit on. The lake was certainly a sight to see right now. Just as the sun was setting, the colors reflected off the shiny surface brilliantly, accenting every ripple and corner of the lake. But Angela ripped her eyes away from the beautiful lake to look at her feet. "It's just – well, kind of complicated."

"I'm sure I can keep up." Jason leaned back on his elbows and looked up expectantly at Angela. "Start from the beginning." Before starting, Angela took a deep breath to help relax. She trusted Jason with everything, and she truly hoped what she had to say wouldn't affect their friendship. What would she do without her personal ray of sunshine in her life?

"Okay, well you know how I transferred this year from Durmstrang right?" Jason nodded silently. "Well, it's a terrible school really. I was so unhappy there. Hogwarts compared to Durmstrang is like night and day! They are strict on who is allowed in. Only 'clean' bloods were accepted. No muggle-born students at all. A lot of students that went there were from families who had pure blood and didn't want their son or daughter associating with anyone but other pure bloods. So in return a lot of the students were just really unpleasant to be around because they were so conceited and egotistical. A lot of _You-Know-Who's_ supporters were there too. As you can imagine, it wasn't the best environment to be in.

"The students were catty, manipulative, and would stop at nothing to get what they want. It would usually end up benefitting them personally or their reputation. I didn't have many close friends at that school, and those who I thought were my friends ended up just using me for their personal gain…I'll get to that in a minute.

"The school is up North. Even Quidditch was miserable because it was so cold outside. Our Quidditch arena was constantly covered in snow. Once I even played Quidditch in the hail. I stayed inside most of the time as did most of the student body. It seemed like the only fun we were ever able to have without the frigid cold ruining our events were dances. Durmstrang held a ball at least twice a year. I have to say that our school was in short stock of girls. I was one of the few. We were always asked to the ball because we were convenient. The other boys would have to invite friends or girls from our sister school. It was acceptable for a man to come to the ball stag, but it was downright humiliating if as a girl you didn't get picked because of the unbalanced ratio of men to women. Others would look at that and say something must be wrong with you if you couldn't get picked. Anyway, that's a little off topic. I went to the ball every year. Every ball I went to I was usually with someone different, mainly because of what happened my first year.

"_Seth Quade,_" Angela straightened up a little and crossed her arms in front of her defensively. She just couldn't look at her best friend, afraid of his reaction to the next part of her story even though she could feel him staring at her. "That was his name. The boy who thoroughly ruined my reputation at that school before I'd even gotten a chance to build one.

"It was our first year in school. I was just starting to get to know my classmates and the first ball was coming up in November. Seth was in a few of my classes and asked me to go to the ball with him. He seemed alright enough to me, so I agreed. I actually had a really good time with Seth at the ball. It was the first time I had ever attended a ball. I was all dressed up like a Barbie in a dress I couldn't breathe in. It felt perfect. Durmstrang was decorated beautifully. It suddenly didn't seem like I was in one of the main dark arts schools in the country. It was surreal. We danced, we laughed. I was 11 years old. It was all in innocent fun. Like something out of a fairy tale!

"The ball lasted until two in the morning. After all that, we still weren't very tired, so Seth and I went on a walk together to talk. I got lost in our conversation that I was surprised when he stopped walking, pulling me to a halt outside of the door to my dormitories. He had walked me back to my dorm. The hallway was completely deserted. Most of the others had gone back to sleep by this time.

"We were saying goodbye. And before he left, he kissed me." _My first kiss._ It started off innocent enough, but ended up more like a make-out session. Angela spared Jason intimate details and continued with her story before she lost her nerve. "That was it. We kissed, and I went to sleep.

"The next week or so I kept getting these really weird looks and strange comments from the guys at school. All of a sudden, a lot of boys were being nice to me, and opening doors for me. It wasn't until they started coming up with suggestive pick up lines that I realized what had happened. They would say things like "I must have had some Felix Felicis because I think I'm about to get lucky," and "You're a good Quidditch player. Want to ride my broomstick?"

Jason's face didn't pull up into a smile like it normally would at these jokes. It was apparent they weren't funny in the context of being said to an 11 year old girl. Angela could tell he was tense, wondering where this story was going. Angela shrugged trying to lighten the mood. "They were just stupid boys. I told you the kids there would do anything to benefit themselves. Seth told the guys there I put out after the ball and they believed him. You can imagine the kind of reputation I got after that. That reputation followed me all 5 years at Durmstrang."

Angela bent at the waist and wrapped her arms around her legs, letting her hair cover her face. This went against everything she ever told herself. She was being vulnerable, showing all her insecurities. It was new, but if she was going to open up to someone, she felt like the only person she _could_ ever trust with this was Jason, yet she still didn't dare look into his eyes yet. She had to say it all in one burst or else she wouldn't finish. Thankful that Jason hadn't interrupted yet, she continued. "They said some pretty awful things you know. I'm not going to repeat it, but what could I do? I ignored it most the time. I tried to show that it didn't bother me. For the most part, the boys took this as me playing hard to get. I was the new prize all the boys tried to get, but never could. That's why I always had boys as friends, that's why I always had dates to the Durmstrang balls. Some other dates that went to the ball with me spread the same rumor." She shrugged once more, and in a small voice, she mumbled "Noir was one of those boys."

"_**What**_?" The sharpness of Jason's tone made Angela jump and look at him. His knuckles were white, and Angela wondered how long he had been clenching his fists like that. His face made her heart drop into her stomach. She's never seem him this angry before. His hands were shaking. "Solace was one of the boys that treated you like….like a piece of meat! With…with no respect! Yet that low life thinks he can come here and get back together with you after what he's done!"

"No! Let me finish! Please?" Jason struggled a moment before he could compose himself. He nodded shortly and retreated once more into silence so Angela could finish. She felt relieved if that was the worst of his outburst. However, Angela could tell he was worrying and started second guessing herself over her decision to tell Jason. She hoped her friend could handle this much. She tried to finish quickly so that this torment could be over, for both her and her best friend.

"You see, Solace…well he was not just any boy, he was _the_ boy to have in our year. Some people called him "Prince Solace." Jason tensed up again, but Angela pressed on. "It was inevitable. The girls found him the most desirable because of his looks and character and it probably had to do with his family's high status as well. And me…well you know what they thought of me. We didn't even officially ask each other to the ball. We ended up going to the ball together with an unspoken agreement. It was for other people's enjoyment, not ours. We thought it would get them off of our backs to see the two most….desirable people together." Angela blushed when she said that.

"Nothing happened!" she finished quickly looking back at Jason, pleading with her eyes for him to believe her. "I never let anything happen! I always push them away. Just like always, people jumped to their own conclusions and I tried to make it appear that it didn't bother me. It just made it easier to deal with. It was just words, I would tell myself. Sticks and stones, you know? But think about it Jason. Can you imagine why it bothers me that he's here? Can you imagine how afraid I am he's going to start the same stupid rumors that were started before? I _like_ it here! I'm actually seen as a person rather than an object. Jason, I was terrified when I first saw him here! He could have ruined everything I built for myself here!" Her voice started shaking as she let her true emotions be shown, and in an instant she was suddenly in Jason's chest, enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. Even though there was silence between them both, it still felt like they were communicating. Angela somehow felt comforted by Jason. This is what she needed. Someone to listen and hold her. She didn't know why, but a few tears escaped from her eyes. Without lifting her head, she forcefully pushed those tears aside and composed herself. There was one more thing Jason needed to know.

"I'm fine, thank you," she said as she pulled herself away. Jason didn't look angry anymore. His face was smooth as he looked at her expectantly. "I talked to Noir, you know, earlier today. He promised me that he wouldn't say anything to anybody about what happened at Durmstrang. He said that he'd like to get to know me…as a person rather than his pre-conceived notions he had at Durmstrang. He invited me for dinner on Saturday…and I said yes."

Jason was silent for a moment. Angela had started to think that he was angry at her for accepting after what had happened to her, but when he finally spoke he didn't seem angry. He simply asked, "Can you trust him?"

Angela shrugged. "I believed him." It was the honest truth. He had literally taken the breath right out of her with his words and his actions that she sincerely believed the words he said.

Jason nodded. "Please Ange, just be careful."

"Careful about what?"

"In case you haven't noticed, he's in Slytherin. The house that's known for it's cunning ways. Not to mention his history with you. Just be careful. I swear if he hurts you, I'll hurt him myself."

"Come on Jason," Angela said in a more cheerful tone, "It's not like I'm dating him! We're just having a dinner as friends. It'll be okay. I took care of myself for five years without you. Even gave Seth a black eye for starting that rumor." She smiled in satisfaction at the memory of him manufacturing a story to cover up his bruise the next day in class. He was terrified at his friends knowing that a girl had beaten him up. Angela never told anyone about that either. She just had the satisfaction of knowing that Seth would be the least of her problems after that.

"Good girl," Jason said proudly and put one arm around her shoulder pulling her into a hug again. "I never doubted you."

Angela laughed and pushed him away. "Come on, let's go back. I still have a pile of homework backed up thanks to you!"

"Okay, but let's stop by the kitchen on the way back, I'm starving!" Angela nodded, smiling again. She felt relieved that Jason knew and still accepted her as a friend. That's more than she could ask for and she was beyond thrilled that her best friend was still standing here next to her and supporting her.

After their pit stop in the kitchen, they made their way down the hallway to the Hufflepuff common room with their arms full of cupcakes. Surprisingly, waiting in the common room was Justin, eying the two with suspicion. "And where have you two been?"

"Nowhere," they answered in unison. They caught each other's eye and laughed, leaving Justin still baffled and confused.

A/N: So her story is out there! Let me know what you think so far! Review/send me a message please! Next chapter with their dinner date coming soon!


End file.
